You Can Judge 90% of Someone’s Personality by their Shoes, Says Science

If you want to get to know someone, stop talking to them and trying to get to know them. Just stare at their shoes! Apparently, shoes reveal much about our personalities. (That kind of scares me. Am I alone?)

Researchers at the University of Kansas found that people were able to correctly judge 90% of a stranger’s personal characteristics — their age, gender, income, political affiliation, emotions and more — just by looking at the style, cost, color, and condition of their shoes.

The study asked 63 students to look at photos of 208 different pairs of shoes that belonged to volunteers, who had filled out personality questionnaires. They predicted personality traits based upon the shoes they saw, and did well in guessing. Some of their findings were fairly obvious, but some were surprising.

Expensive shoes belonged to high earners.

Flashy and colorful shoes belonged to extroverts.

Shoes that were not new but appeared to be spotless belonged to conscientious types.